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Nigerian Court Clears Senate President of Asset-Declaration Charges

by Reuters

   ABUJA --

   Nigeria's Supreme Court on Friday dismissed all outstanding charges
   against Senate president Bukola Saraki related to alleged false
   declarations of assets.

   Saraki, one of the country's most powerful politicians, has been dogged
   by accusations of misconduct and investigations since he became
   president of the upper house of parliament in 2015, though none has led
   to convictions.

   The original charges related to allegations that Saraki had falsely
   declared his assets when he was a state governor from 2003 to 2011, to
   which he had pleaded not guilty. A Code of Conduct Tribunal cleared him
   of the charges in June 2017, saying the case lacked substance.

   The Supreme Court upheld his appeal on Friday against a decision in
   December last year that he should still face three charges.

   "I am happy that I have been vindicated. The Supreme Court has affirmed
   that there is no evidence of false declaration of assets," Saraki said
   in a statement.

   Saraki ran unopposed for the post of Senate president, mainly with the
   support of the opposition even though he is a member of the ruling All
   Progressives Congress. He was not the APC's preferred candidate, which
   led to strains in his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari.

   "This is a politically motivated case," Saraki said in his statement,
   which did not name Buhari. "The case was trumped up in the first
   instance because of my emergence as the President of the Senate against
   the wishes of certain forces."

   A presidency spokesman declined to comment.

   Saraki's battles with the presidency are not the only fractures to have
   emerged in the APC before elections early next year. On Thursday, a
   faction of the APC split, declaring that it no longer supported the
   Buhari's government and threatening his hopes of securing a second
   term.